Lightning Coffee Roasters

Lynn, MA

There’s a new speciality coffee wave roaring across the Massachusetts’ North Shore. Its origins are located in the city of Lynn. With only one year to its name, Lightning Coffee Roasters has quickly impacted the local coffee scene. Whether it’s the fresh cups of single origin Burundi being served every Saturday or the ability for established cafes to sell higher grade roasts, Lightning's rapid growth is hardly a surprise.

“The idea for Lightning Coffee Roasters started at the end of last year and really was a response to feeling like we were not part of the community,” says owner Rachel Bennett. With an established career in neuroscience, Rachel did not join the coffee industry for financial reasons. Her attraction to coffee came from its universal ability to create open conversation and human interaction. Rachel takes the time to greet each customer and reach out to her surrounding neighbors. She's even found a way to implement her former occupation into her work as a roaster. Rachel uses her experience with meticulous quantitative analysis and applies those skills to create the perfect roast. With a combination of insight and a passion to connect with others, Rachel is quickly blending the perfect mix of coffee and community.

A hard working and attentive individual, Rachel wants to send a message to the rest of the industry. Lightning Coffee Roasters is female owned, run, and supported. “I think in general, you know, women have such a central role in a number of processes within the coffee industry which are often overlooked. So for me it’s important not only as a female small business owner but as a coffee roaster just to get my voice out there and say we can do it.” After starting a fundraising campaign for Healing Abuse Working for Change an organization that supports thousands of families in the North Shore area suffering from domestic abuse, Rachel began looking for more opportunities to expand her women-focused efforts." So far we have fundraising campaigns for various women’s initiatives in the area that we hope to support both now and in the future. As we go forward, I’d like to hopefully mentor other people in the area and try to grow the business out."

There’s a different energy surrounding the coffee community - it’s simple, our connection to one another matters. It’s about the experiences, conversations, and lessons we are all sharing. Rachel Bennett epitomizes all this and more.